Congregation's Faith Weathers Storm Tornado Ruins Evangelical Christian Church In Lyons, But Members Accept It As An Act Of God.

June 07, 1998|by RON DEVLIN, The Morning Call

It was as if the hand of God had destroyed their church.

Out of the heavens, with incomprehensible force, a twister struck the Evangelical Christian Church in Lyons only hours after the tiny congregation departed from worship services last Sunday.

The devastating blow left the red brick country church in ruins -- its steeple askew, its slate roof blown apart, its walls cracked.

Sadly, the church has been condemned and will be be demolished early this week.

The congregation of 17 mostly elderly persons decided they will not rebuild the old church. Indeed, the congregation itself might disband.

"A lot of our people are retired," said Myrle Heffner, 69, who has worshipped in the church since she was 5. "I don't think we can handle the responsibility of a new church."

Their temple may have been destroyed, but their faith remains rock solid.

"We have to assume it was an act of God, but the Lord knows what he's doing. He doesn't make any mistakes. That's one consolation we have to hold on to. We have to keep reminding ourselves of that," said Heffner, who lived next to the church as a child.

The final blow came at a time when the congregation was rebounding from another tragedy --the recent death of its pastor, the Rev. Berwin Hainley.

The congregation buried Hainley three weeks ago in Forest Hill Cemetery in Mt. Penn. Though it was a setback, church members decided to go on. A new pastor, Richard Englehart of Mt. Penn, was to conduct his first service today.

With no church and little energy, the congregation of seniors has told the new pastor not to come. Sometime soon, when the shock subsides, it will hold a meeting to decide its future.

"Most of our members probably will go to the Evangelical Christian church in Seyfert, between Reading and Birdsboro," Heffner said.

Margaret Glenn, 78, is thinking of joining the Church of the Nazarene in Kutztown, which is not far from her home. She's worshipped there occasionally, and found it fulfilling.

But her heart will forever remain in the little country church in Lyons, a town of 500 surrounded by fertile fields and the silos of Mennonite farms.

"It was a real Bible-preaching church that preached salvation," said Glenn, a retired secretary.

"The congregation was friendly; they loved you, took right to you," she said. "What else is there to say."

Glenn, who has spent a lot of time crying since the tornado struck, went to the edge of Lyons to see what nature had done to her church. From a distance, she could see the holes in the roof, the windows blown out.

"It was a shambles," she said. "I couldn't believe it."

For many members, the church was the last link to Lyons. They had long since moved from the borough, working and raising families in towns across the Berks County farming region.

On Sundays, like salmon returning to their birthplace, they came back to the little church in the little town of their childhood to be spiritually reborn.

Frances Wurtzenluft, 73, a retired garment worker, grew up in a house right behind the old church. Though she now lives in Temple, near Reading, she has remained a church member.

It wasn't a glamorous place, she said, just a country church with old-fashioned seats. But it was her church, and she loved it.

"We'll miss our church, that's for sure," said Wurtzenluft, who has an old snapshot that will be her only lasting memory of it.

The church was built in the late 1800s, caretaker Robert Heffner said, and once served as a community Sunday School.

The Rev. Charles Holland, 81, a retired Evangelical Christian minister, recalled serving as pastor during the dark days of World War II when the church was known as Holiness Christian.

In the early 1940s, Holland worked at Dana Corp. in Pottstown, making truck parts for the Army. On weekends, he'd preach at the Lyons church.

Memories filled his mind when he saw a photo of the damaged church in a newspaper. He was young, devoted to the Lord and he'd drive from Pottstown to Lyons to preach the Gospel.

He remembered crossing the railroad tracks on the north end of town, where the church sat right in the middle of the area devastated by the twister.

"It hurt, I felt so bad," said Holland, who lives in Exeter Township. "That's life; it changes and it's often hard to accept."

The church held precious memories for Harold and Agnes Hess, too.

The elderly Topton couple celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary at the church last Sunday, the day the tornado struck. At the morning service, the Hesses prayed together and reminisced about May 31, 1980, their wedding day.

Hess, 81, a retired missionary, recalled the warm Saturday on which she exchanged vows in the Lyons church. She recalled the organ playing and her niece, Michelle Weiss, singing the hymn "Oh, Promise Me."

It's gone now and Hess, a devout Christian who studied at the Pillar of Fire seminary in New Jersey, is not sure why.

Hess is selling her home and plans to move to the Boyertown area.

"I guess the Lord wants us to move, I don't know, that's the only answer I can come up with," she said.